Geraldo Ignores Glaring Problem With Trump’s Birther “Controversy”

Although Geraldo Rivera didn't come close to endorsing Donald Trump's demand for President Obama's birth certificate, Rivera nonetheless offered only the mildest pushback against what he surely knew was a dogwhistle to extremists. In fact, though Rivera offered a few contradictory facts, he sounded downright admiring as he asked, "Don't you have an incredible ability to find the hot-button issue?" and, at the end, "Donald Trump, as always, extremely provocative. You have again set off a firestorm." Meanwhile, Rivera ignored a huge problem with Trump’s supposed “controversy.”

Rivera was more affectionate than disapproving as he told Trump at the beginning of their interview Saturday (3/26/11), “You made quite a splash on The View when you seemed to join the most radical, fringe element of the activist right-wing.”

Later, Rivera, offering some challenge, asked Trump, “Aren't there contemporaneous newspaper accounts of his being born in Hawaii?”

Trump replied, “No, the newspaper accounts came in after, days after he was born.”

First of all, it’s very common for newspaper birth announcements to appear “days after” someone is born. More importantly, it's absurd to suggest that the conspiracy to push Obama illegitimately into the White House began when he was an infant. As FactCheck.org noted about the announcement in the Honlulu Advertiser nine days after Obama's birth,

Of course, it's distantly possible that Obama's grandparents may have planted the announcement just in case their grandson needed to prove his U.S. citizenship in order to run for president someday. We suggest that those who choose to go down that path should first equip themselves with a high-quality tinfoil hat.